49 Chevy step side

Every now and then, we would pile into the back of grandpa's dark green 49 Chevrolet step side pick up and head off to grannie's sister, Dora Marshall, who lived in Gordon, Alabama. This particular trip was known to us a few days in advance and Wayne, Benny, and I had time to gather up a few paper sacks and fill them with dirt. The truck was a work truck and probably had never seen a wash job, had tools and hay wire and peanuts that had been pulled up and thrown in the back, to show the neighbors how good the crop was. We had to push everything to the side and pile in. I don't know why grannie did not go, but daddy and grandpa were in the front. To go from McKay's store to Ashford, we had to go by Balkum Church and come out at Green Front on the Columbia Hwy. Grandpa's top speed was 25 and even though he had a three speed on the column, he would wind it out in low and go straight to high, causing the truck to lurch and jump until he could build up enough speed to handle the shift. He did not want to wear out 2nd gear and save gas by not using it. When he went by a field he would slow down so he could get a good look and comment on how straight the rows were, how much fertilizer was needed, and why didn't they keep the weeds pulled. A trip that should have taken 45 minutes, would take 2 hours. We did not care, when no cars were behind us we would throw the paper bags of dirt in the air and they would land on the hard top and explode and look like a mushroom cloud. We could have gone through Dothan, but there was no traffic circle and going through the middle of town would have taken even longer. For those of you who don't know, Gordon is below Ashford.
By the time we got there we were ready to get out. Just about the time he stopped, we bailed out and hit the dirt running. My third cousin Crissie and one of her friends(prettiest little girl I had ever seen) were outside and looked startled to see us. We played chase and hide and seek for most of the afternoon. The porch on the house was higher than our heads, with wooden steps that reached to the sky. Some of us hid under the porch, but since it was so open we would have to race to base to keep from being tagged it. Crissie had a big slide that we took turns on. Some one suggested using wax paper to slide on and it will make you speed up on the way down. By the time we left to go home it was almost dark, so we made it back pretty quick.
Years later when I met Sheila and we had dated for a while I carried her to meet grandpa and grannie. If you never knew Guy Carlile, he was a talker and asked one question after another. Sheila was always called Girl, by him. Girl, do you know Homer Aman from Ashford? Yes sir. Girl, do you know Dora Marshall? Yes sir I am friends with her grand daughter. Girl was an instant hit. Sheila told of a day when she was a child in the first grade, that she was spending the weekend with Crissie. Crissie was big for her age and mean as a snake. She had all the boys in Harmon School afraid of her. When they saw a green chevrolet truck drive up and three boys jump out, Crissie told Sheila, Those boys are mean. If she said those boys were mean, Sheila knew she was in trouble, but said that she had a good time playing hide and seek , tag, and sliding down the slide on wax paper. We looked at each other and started laughing. It was weird to find out that we had played together all those years ago. On the 23rd of this month we will have been married for 38 years.